CarL Columbia Fireflies

Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 4.29 at Augusta

Published on April 29, 2023 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


The Fireflies kick-off their weekend with a 6:05 tilt vs the Augusta GreenJackets at SRP Park. Southpaw Frank Mozzicato (0-0, 0.60 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Augusta counters with righty JR Ritchie (0-1, 7.11 ERA).

After the week on the road, Columbia returns home to face the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in a six-game set from May 2-7 at Segra Park. The week will see the return of Human Cannonball night, presented by Columbia College May 4 and our annual Star Wars Night, presented by Blanchard Machinery with a Mandalorian Jersey Auction May 6. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.

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COLUMBIA SPLITS WILD DOUBLEHEADER IN AUGUSTA: The Columbia Fireflies were able to walk out of SRP Park with a doubleheader split, taking game one 5-1 and dropping game two 5-4 in eight innings Friday night vs the Augusta GreenJackets. Game 1 Columbia dealt the knock-out blow in the fifth frame. After Jean Ramirez led the frame off with a walk, Daniel Vazquez and Brett Squires added RBI doubles to double Columbia's lead to 4-0. Dionmy Salon extended his hitting streak to four games with an RBI single scoring Squires and closing out the scoring at 5-0. The pitching was stellar again for the Fireflies. Ben Kudrna (W, 1-2) found his groove, going five scoreless innings for his first win of the campaign before handing the ball to Chazz Martinez who allowed a single run in a pair of innings in relief to close the door in game one. Game 2 The GreenJackets were able to jump ahead in the eighth, scoring the placed runner in extras and Justin Janis who was hit by a pitch with one out. Both came home on an EJ Exposito double to the left field corner off Cooper McKeehan (L, 2-1). The runs gave Augusta a 5-3 lead as they want on to win 5-4.

CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD: After a career-high 11 punch-out performance April 26, David Sandlin paces the Carolina League with 31 strikeouts on the year. The next closest is his teammate, Frank Mozzicato, who has fanned 26 batters and is due to start tonight's game with Augusta.

FRANKIE CURVEBALL: Kansas City's 2021 first-round pick has allowed only a single run in three starts for the Fireflies in 2023, fanning 26 hitters in 15 innings while holding opponents to a .200 average. Mozzicato set a franchise record with 13 strikeouts in a single game last Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 11 held by Tony Dibrell since April 26, 2018.

GLOWING ARMS PAVING PATH: The Fireflies team ERA through the first 18 games of the season is 2.97, which is the sixth-best mark in all of Minor League Baseball. Dunedin leads the way with an absurd 2.25 ERA in their first 19 games. The Fireflies find themselves in second in team ERA in the Carolina League, sitting less than one-tenth of a point behind the GreenJackets, who birng a 2.86 ERA into Saturday's tilt.

MULTI-HIT VAZQUEZ: Last night, shortstop Daniel Vazquez continued his torrid stretch at the plate. The 19-year-old had four hits in the doubleheader, two in each game, which were good for his team-leading sixth and seventh multi-hit games of the season. Vazquez leads the club in most offensive categories, including batting average (.311), RBI (10), total bases (20) and stolen bases (nine). Last year, Vazquez was hitting .246 after his 17th game played in the Carolina League.

FIRST ONE FOR McMILLON: In his third season with the Columbia Fireflies, April 15, John McMillon came into game two of the doubleheader with a one run lead in the bottom of the seventh and closed out the game for his first professional save. It was the reliever's 41st appearance in professional baseball. Since earning the save, he has been able to add a win and a second save in consecutive appearances. This season he has worked six innings, striking out 11 hitters without ceding a run. If that weren't enough, in his save opportunity April 26, he wrung up four hitters in an inning, becoming the second Fireflies player to do so, joining Marlin Willis, who accomplished the feat in the eighth inning vs Myrtle Beach August 17, 2022.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from April 29, 2023


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